In industry, particularly such as the garment manufacturing industry, plastic garment hangers are widely employed for the purpose of shipping and displaying garments, such hangers frequently being of the inexpensive ship-on type whereby the garment is shipped from the manufacturer or wholesaler to the retailer while suspended from the hanger. Generally, such garment hangers are inexpensive single-piece or unitary molded plastic structures which are adapted to be either discarded at the time of sale, returned to the garment manufacturer or provided to a customer free of charge in conjunction with the purchase of the garment suspended therefrom.
Garment hangers of that type may either be simply constructed as molded plastic structures incorporating a unitary or metal central hook portion adapted to be suspended from a suitable support, such as a garment rack or the like, and with a hanger body portion having arms extending in opposite directions from the base of the hook portion so as to facilitate a garment to be suspended therefrom. When needed for a specific use, the opposite or distal ends of the body portion or arms may be formed with suitable grip slots or clip members to enable the attachment of various kinds of garments thereto, such as underwear, slips, brassieres, multiple garments, and the like.
The prior art includes a number of garment hangers that are molded so as to receive various indicia or logos, which may be representative of the garment manufacturer or designer, or possibly the retail establishment, to provide a form of advertisement and to also identify the origin of the garment being suspended therefrom. An embossed logo may also be imprinted therein so as to provide various color contrasts provided through molded raised or recessed surfaces representative of a logo, advertisement, or the like as mentioned hereinbefore.
The prior art also includes garment hangers for coats, blazers and other heavier garments which are fitted with pads or rubber strips, along the shoulder portion, or non-slip adhesive coatings on the pants bar to help retain the garment on the hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,195 to Blanchard discloses a plastic garment hanger of a basically unitary construction wherein a garment size identification structure is molded into the hanger, such as in the shape of a flat surface molded into the hook portion of the hanger. Although this provides for a suitable provision of indicia, such as garment size identification or a logo and the like, the hanger would not be readily employable for garments produced by either different manufacturers or for garments of different sizes. Consequently, the garment hanger is limited to its use for a specific application and/or garment type or size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,547 to Samuels et al. discloses a garment hanger in which indicia means are attachable to the hanger body in the form of tabs or the like which can be removed from the hanger at the point of sale, or replaced by other indicia-incorporating structure when it is required to employ the garment hanger for different garment types.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,940 to Phillip discloses a molded plastic garment hanger in which clips or tabs bearing specified indicia may be detachably fastened to the hanger structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,867 to Berkovits discloses a garment hanger having a non-slip strip of resilient material adhesively secured to the shoulder portions of the hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,482 to McHugh discloses a rod-type garment hanger having a pre-formed sleeve of non-slip protective material which is slipped over the rod portions of the hanger to assist in retaining garments on the hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,241 to Craig discloses a tightly braided cover which is plaited around the periphery of a garment hanger to provide protection for the garment and to prevent garment slippage from the hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,705 to Garrison discloses a garment clamping hanger which has garment gripping pads molded of a synthetic rubber which has a high coefficient of friction when firmly pressed against fabric and avoids marking or adhering to the fabric of a garment.
The prior art also discloses numerous kinds of apparatus and methods for molding two-component plastic materials; in essence, by means of a two-step or co-injection process. However, these have not been specifically applied to the production of a two-component or composite plastic garment hanger of the types considered herein.
In essence, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,602 to Neumeister discloses an injection molding apparatus for manufacturing articles from different types of plastic materials, in which a first plastic material is injected into a mold to form a frame member or the like, and thereafter subsequent to cooling and solidifying of the molten plastic material, a second plastic material is injected into the cavity of the mold so as to form an insert within an aperture of the frame member provided by the first plastic material, thereby fusing the plastic materials and forming a mechanical bond therebetween.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,705 to Garrison the garment gripping pads of the hanger clips are molded substantially simultaneously with the hanger so as to chemically bond with the material of the hanger. The hanger is molded with the front and rear jaws of the clip in the open position. When the mold is closed each cavity in which a pad is to be formed is occupied by a cam. While the cams are occupying the cavities for the pads, the hanger forming resin is injected into the mold to fill the entire mold except the spaces occupied by the cams. After the resin has sufficiently set, the cams occupying the pad forming cavities are withdrawn (upwardly) and the resin to form the pads is injected through opening 27. To avoid resin migration the opening is very small and a tab gate 47 is provided between the parting line and the opening such that when the hanger is ejected from the mold the resin is sheared by the tab gate from the resin remaining in the conduit.
Similar types of molding apparatus and methods of that kind are disclosed in various patent publications, representative of which are U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,621 to Schomblond disclosing a mold for producing composite bodies from different plastic materials; U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,068 to Hemery and U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,596 to Bullard et al.